


Give me Plants

by Junmyeonderful



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Botanist Suho, Chanyeol is a mess, Fluff, M/M, Plants, don't bet on your friends relationship folks, lots of plants
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-19
Updated: 2017-03-19
Packaged: 2018-10-07 22:17:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10370913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Junmyeonderful/pseuds/Junmyeonderful
Summary: As Chanyeol falls, his collection of plants gets bigger, but not necessarily better.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [noonaofdarkness](https://archiveofourown.org/users/noonaofdarkness/gifts).



> Written for 2016 SNCJ [Secret Santa](http://sncj-santa.livejournal.com/). This is my first work for a event like that and i had lot of fun writing it. Special thanks to my beta, J, and Line who first beta-ed this for me.
> 
> To my recipient, the mods asked for the an to be short, but now that i have more space, I hope you enjoyed the story, I did my best to go along with what you asked.

Chanyeol is late. Really late. He’s so late that the possibility of his family giving his large ears a very painful pull has increased from probably to most definitely. It’s hard to tell who will do it first, but his suspicions fall directly on Yura, considering it’s her birthday. His best friend is also a good option, since he’s the one who called Chanyeol to ask where the hell he was and woke him from his well-deserved sleep after putting an all-nighter to finish one of his final papers. Jongdae was also the one he invited first so he wouldn’t have to see his family alone.

(“You were _sleeping_?” Jongdae hissed into the phone, his tone beyond annoyed. “Get your bony ass here _right now_ , or the one who’s going to have your head is me and not your beloved sister. You don’t pay me enough to put up with your family”.

Only after Jongdae hung up - not before Chanyeol telling him that being his best friend is not an actual job, to which Jongdae grumbled “considering that you’re so high maintenance, I should be awarded with, at least, a paycheck” - did he bother to look at the hour and discover that he slept through his alarm by an hour.

He raises from the couch in a haste, running ungracefully to the bathroom for a quick shower, and puts on the least crinkled clothes he can find. He’s suddenly very grateful his sister is kind of a simple person, despite their parents trying to make them into their copies of rich and snobbish people, so he knows he can wear pretty much anything to her party. He shuffles through the mess in the apartment, gathering his wallet, keys and cellphone, jumping over disposable cups of coffee, packets of snacks and cups of instant ramen. He will clean it up later, he tells himself.

While searching for his earphones, he glances at the window and sees that the cactus Jongdae gave him is kind of… weird? A bit yellowed, but lighter around the base. That’s what cactus are supposed to look like, right? _Probably needs more water_ , he thinks putting on his shoes.

He is out the door less than twenty minutes from Jongdae’s call, but only on the ground floor he realizes that he forgot Yura’s present in the apartment. He doesn’t have the time to go back though, so he chooses to buy something in the way. It’s a ten minute walk from his apartment complex to Yura’s, and he’s pretty sure that there’s a flower shop on the way, right across the street from his favorite coffee place.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Junmyeon loves flowers. Roses, the little baby’s-breath, lilies, daisies, he loves all of them. People never really understood why, not even his family, although flowers always surrounded him and he spent an awful lot of time in the family greenhouse and garden. _You’re wasting your talent_ , they said when he chose, instead of business, law or medical school, biology and later botany.

However, Junmyeon’s family would have never guessed that, while in college, he would come across a job opportunity in a decadent flower shop, and would apply right away. They also never imagined that the owner would give Junmyeon the business after his passing, and it would be reasonably successful.

Junmyeon loves his job too. He loves making bouquets, arrangements and flower crowns. Loves planting and feeling the dirt between his fingers, and seeing those little seeds grown into beautiful flowers or trees. Loves the soft texture of the petals on his fingertips, the green leaves and the vibrant colors surrounding him.

He is taking care of the plants, when the doorbell chimes, announcing a client. Junmyeon raises from where he’s crouching and watering the chrysanthemums, a little far from the front door, and walks to the counter where they keep the register and attend clients.

What comes in view is a very tall man, somewhat disheveled and a bit out of breath. He has prominent ears, gangly limbs and dark hair. He looks somewhat lost, and Junmyeon waits, with his hands crossed on the counter, until the stranger looks around the shop to speak in a soft voice and equally soft smile.

“Can I help you, sir?”

The stranger looks up, from where he was staring at the violets, surprised. But not more surprised than Junmyeon himself.

The man is gorgeous, with his black hair falling in a soft wave over his forehead and big dark brown eyes and lips that look _so soft_ . His features somehow make him look like an elf, a model or an idol. And he’s _blushing_? Junmyeon definitely feels heat coming up his own cheeks, and tries to maintain his polite business smile, careful not to slip into what Kyungsoo likes to call “the dumb smile”. The client looks away, appearing embarrassed by the exchange.

“Hi”, the client says, in a voice deeper than Junmyeon would’ve expected, looking somewhere to his left, as if avoiding meeting Junmyeon’s eyes.

“Hello”, Junmyeon answers.

“I would like a bouquet…?”, the man says as his hand starts fidgeting, and looks at Junmyeon from the corner of his eye.

“Of course”, Junmyeon says smoothly, going around the counter. “You’re in the right place then.”

That makes laugh a little, a low, rich sound, and Junmyeon smiles, feeling his cheeks warm again. “That I can’t argue”, he says.

“Do you have any preferences? What’s the occasion?” Junmyeon asks, getting closer to the man to show him the flowers.

“It’s a birthday…and I don’t know...”, he seems hesitant, looking around the shop. “I mean, I don’t really know what kind of flowers she likes”

_Oh_ , Junmyeon thinks, _a she. Girlfriend maybe?_. He frowns, not really sure why he feels disappointed. He shrugs it off, deciding to analyze it later.

“We have a great selection of flowers. This was a very good season for them”, he gestures to illustrate his words. “We also grow our own flowers, rather than buying them, so we can assure their quality”.

“Great”, the man gives Junmyeon a small smile, but averts his eyes. “I do know that her favorite color is yellow”

“Oh, so why don’t we go with yellow roses? They’re really pretty these days. Also, you can’t go wrong with roses, right?”

“I suppose”, the man agrees and Junmyeon asks him to wait while he prepares the bouquet.

He goes to the back of the store and into the greenhouse, where they keep the best flowers, and carefully selects the most fragrant ones, the ones with the most vibrant colors and carefully removes all the thorns. Only then, he remembers he did not ask the client for how many roses he would want. Junmyeon hastily makes his way to the front of the shop, with a rose in one hand and a garden shear on the other.

But the short man stops, taking in the image of the taller man. He was wearing a long sleeved cream turtleneck and black jeans pants under the navy blue coat. Junmyeon often forgot it was winter outside, since it was always warm inside the shop and the greenhouse. He sees the taller man raising his sleeves and showing his strong, veiny and pale forearms. Junmyeon feels heat coming from behind his neck to tinge his cheeks a soft pink. Knowing that, he only feels more embarrassed, and clears his throat calling for the taller man’s attention.

When the other man raises his head, his hair falls over his forehead and bright eyes and Junmyeon feels his breath stolen once again. He carefully avoids the taller man’s eyes, but holds up the flower and the scissors.

“I forgot to ask how many roses you wanted in the bouquet”, he says shyly.

“Oh, just the standard number. Twelve, isn’t it?”

“Yes”

“Then twelve it is”, and he smiles and Junmyeon feels something crawling inside his chest, dangerously close to his heart.

“Okay”, Junmyeon says and smiles.

The rest of the transaction goes smoothly, but the shorter man can’t help but feeling warm all over.

When the taller man pays for the bouquet, puts on his coat and leaves, Junmyeon finally takes a deep breath, and feels his whole body cool down while he fans himself. By then, he hears a whistle and looks back to find his best friend coming down the stairs carrying a glass vase filled with lilies.

“That was really fun, truly”, he says.

“Well, you’re welcome, but I don’t think you’re being sincere”, Junmyeon answers, frowning and Kyungsoo only laughs.

“Don’t get me wrong, hyung. I’m all for watching you fumble and blush and stuff, it’s cute actually. But this was so awkward. And he”, he gestures to the door, now closed, with the client long gone, “reminds me of someone I really don’t like. Besides, it’s been a while since the last time I’ve seen you strangely interested on someone.”

Junmyeon opens his mouth to deny, but Kyungsoo beats him to it. “Don’t deny it, hyung. I’ve known you since forever, and I even read your diary in ninth grade, let’s not forget that. I always know when you have a crush. I guess I’m just surprised at how fast that was. But I think that was because he was your type.”

Junmyeon scoffs and glances at the credit card receipt he’s still holding. He reads _Park Chanyeol_  and thinks briefly that it fits the taller man. “Oh yeah? So what’s my type?” he asks, absently.

“Besides me, of course, you know, the tall clumsy type, like Kris-”

Junmyeon head snaps so fast he hear his neck crack, the name doing unpleasant things to his stomach.  

“Please don’t bring him into this conversation.”

Kyungsoo shrugs, putting the vase down and turning to face Junmyeon and looks at him, seriousness in his eyes. “You can’t let what happened with him dictate your life forever, hyung. It’s been three years.”

“I know”, Junmyeon sighs, putting the receipt on the counter and running his hand through his dark brown hair. “It’s… more complicated than that.”

“I understand it’s not easy, hyung. To let go. I really do. I was with you through all that, remember? But you’re never going to move on if you keep yourself from being, well, if not happy, at least a bit more satisfied.”

“I guess…”

“I think you should give it a shot”, he points to the counter with his chin.

“Maybe, but I don’t think he’ll show up again.”

“You don’t know that. Maybe he will”, Kyungsoo states, disappearing to the back of the shop.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Chanyeol does show up again at the flower shop several times a week, every time buying something different, from potted plants to flowers and increasing the collection on his windowsill.

“Chanyeol, what are you doing with this amount of plants?”, Jongdae asks, suspiciously eyeing the potted plans aligned under the sunlight.

He raises his head from the where it is buried inside his books on the kitchen table and glances to his window.

“… Taking care of them?”, he mumbles with a highlighter in his mouth and another in his hand.

Jongdae steps through the mess in the living room to get closer to the window and squints at the plants. There’s the cactus he gave Chanyeol, and another 3 plants, a succulent, a begonia and a jade plant.

“It looks like they're dying.”

“What? No, they're not dying.”

“Hummm, I'm pretty sure they are. One of my girlfriends was a botanist, if you remember. I heard a lot about plants.”

And those words finally make Chanyeol raise from his seat and walks to Jongdae, stopping beside him and staring at the plants. Maybe it was because his friend pointed, but the plants did not seem well. But that was not what was worrying Chanyeol. If his crush, _Junmyeon_ , he thought, _his name is Junmyeon, and he’s gorgeous and ethereal and has a beautiful eye smile_  knew that he was killing his plants, he would probably banish him from ever going to his shop again! And he would never have the chance to ask him out for coffee or a meal.

“No! No, no, no, no! They can’t die!”, Chanyeol says desperately, extending his hands to the plants, as if he could heal them just by approaching.

“Well, too late for that”, Jongdae says turning around but it’s stopped but a hand in his arm turning him around to find Chanyeol’s face so close to his that he could feel the taller’s man breath in his face.

_“Help me_.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

The bell chimes and Junmyeon looks up from the counter to find his favorite client come in. He can hear Kyungsoo laughing in the distance, but chooses to ignore it in favor of paying attention to Chanyeol.

But this days he seems less cheerful and more grim. In the weeks he came in, after the first time, Junmyeon discovered that the taller man was always happy, and was a literature student, had a sister called Yura (for whom he bought the flowers) and a best friend called Jongdae.

He had the feeling that, although Chanyeol bought a lot of plants and flowers, he had absolutely no talent with them. Kyungsoo kept telling Junmyeon that the taller man only showed up because of him, but that was hard for Junmyeon to believe. He was just an ordinary man with too much baggage after all.

“Hello, Chanyeol! How are the plants? ”, Junmyeon said smiling at the taller man.

Chanyeol gives the Junmyeon a sad smile and leans on the counter.

“Oh”, Junmyeon says. “Is there something wrong?”

“It’s just… I have to come clear about something”

Junmyeon frowns, worried about something he’s not really sure. Even though he’s not searching for a new adventure, Kyungsoo was right, and he is interested in Chanyeol. He is kind of awkward but kind and funny. He liked to believe his friend, but he was never sure. Not after what happened with Kris.

“Okay…”

Chanyeol takes a deep breath and releases before saying quickly, "AlltheplantsiboughtfromyouaredyingbecauseIdon’tknowhowtotakecareofthem andI’msorrypleasedon’tkickmeoutand-”

“Slow down!”, Junmyeon says raising his hands and he can hear Kyungsoo cackling in the back of the store. “What are you saying!?”

“I’m sorry. I might have killed all the plants I bought from you. It wasn’t my intention, but I don’t know much about plants so…”

Junmyeon blinks twice, confused because he didn’t know why Chanyeol was telling him that.

“Okay… why are you telling me this?”

It is Chanyeol’s turn to blink.

“Because I thought you would kick me out and would never want to see me again after I told you that I killed them. And if you kicked me I would never have the chance to ask you out for a coffee.”

“Oh… ask me out?”

Chanyeol nods.

“For coffee?”

Chanyeol nods again.

Junmyeon then smiles and says “Okay”, and starts to untie his apron and reach for his coat, going around the counter to stop in front of Chanyeol, who just watches him, getting more and more confused, and looks at the shorter man for a few seconds before understanding.

“You want to go now?”

“You didn’t mean now?”, Junmyeon asks, his face falling.

“No, no. We can go now. It’s just… I thought you wouldn’t want to go out with me after what I did to the plants.”

Junmyeon sighs and smooths down his coat, thinking of what to say.

“I do love plants, Chanyeol, but they don’t shape the way I feel about someone. You are the first person who I’m excited about in a long time. I was… afraid I guess, to take the first step. I always was. I didn’t want to waste this chance now.”

Chanyeol smiles softly and reaches shyly to Junmyeon’s hand.

“He won’t forget about the plants!”, Chanyeol hears someone yell and watches fondly as  Junmyeon rolls his eyes.

“Ignore him. We can worry about the plants later. Shall we?”, he points to the door.

“Sure.”

As soon as they get to the door, they hear someone clear their throat and look back to find Kyungsoo looking a little bit more smug than usual. Junmyeon frowns and his friend points above where they’re standing and they look up to find mistletoe.

Junmyeon groans and lets out a suffering sigh. “Really? It wasn’t here before”, he says and Kyungsoo only shrugs.

Junmyeon gathers courage and ignoring Chanyeol surprised face, raises to the tip of his feet and kisses Chanyeol’s cheek softly. When Junmyeon goes back down, he refuses to look at Chanyeol’s face but grabs his hand and goes out the door, to the coffee shop across the street.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Inside the flower shop, Jongdae comes out of the back and Kyungsoo gives him the smug smile he just gave Junmyeon.

“You owe me fifty bucks, Jong-boy.”

“Oh well, you’re just so smart aren’t you?”, Jongdae grumbles in response, fishing his wallet from his back pocket.

“I’m a good observer. And I know Junmyeon.” He glances at the door and smiles. “He wouldn’t hold his feelings for much longer.”

“But still, you put bets on his relationships.”

“Half of this,” Kyungsoo holds up the money, “is going to Junmyeon’s pocket, so I think he won’t be too upset about it.”

“Wha-? I don’t believe it! I hate you both!”

“No, you don’t”, Kyungsoo laughs. “You wanted Chanyeol to find someone just as I wanted Junmyeon to stop moping. I just didn’t know it would be each other’s choices. But I guess they would meet eventually.”

Jongdae scoffs, and crosses his arms. “So you and Junmyeon agreed that he would kiss first?”

“No, although he knew about the bet. He tried to make me change my choice, but I didn’t. Then, he made me feel so bad about it that I offered to give him half of the money if I won. What happened there was just Junmyeon giving himself a chance after too much time.”

“He could do better than Chanyeol, really.”

Kyungsoo smiles. “We’ll see.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! You can find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/junmyeonderful), where I mostly rant about exo and fics and work.


End file.
